How do I install the Gh CLI Agentic skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add laurigates/gh-cli-agentic in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Gh CLI Agentic skill do?

gh CLI commands with JSON output for agent workflows. Use when querying PRs, issues, workflow runs, or repo metadata; inspecting PR checks; fetching failed CI logs; or resolving a github.com URL to an API call. It is listed under AI & ML on SkillMD.

Is Gh CLI Agentic safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Gh CLI Agentic?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Gh CLI Agentic free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Gh CLI Agentic?

laurigates (@laurigates) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Gh CLI Agentic by laurigates — Agent Skill

Name: Gh CLI Agentic
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: laurigates

GitHub CLI Agentic Patterns

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use the alternative when...
Querying PRs, issues, runs, or repo metadata with `gh` and need JSON output	Use `git-cli-agentic` for porcelain-mode local git queries (status, diff, log)
Inspecting PR checks, mergeable status, or fetching failed CI logs	Use `gh-workflow-monitoring` to actively watch a run until it completes
Resolving a github.com URL into an `gh api` call or working with sub-issues	Use `git-issue-hierarchy` for sub-issue add/remove/dependency-graph operations
Looking up label, repo, or workflow metadata via `gh` JSON commands	Use `github-labels` to actually apply or create labels on issues/PRs

Optimized gh commands for AI agent consumption using JSON output and structured field selection.

Core Principle

Always use --json <fields> for machine-readable output. The --jq filter is built-in (no jq installation required).

Pull Request Operations

Check Status

# Get all check statuses
gh pr checks $PR_NUMBER --json name,state,conclusion,detailsUrl

# Filter to failed only
gh pr checks $PR_NUMBER --json name,state,conclusion --jq '.[] | select(.conclusion == "FAILURE")'

Fields: name, state, conclusion, detailsUrl, startedAt, completedAt

PR Details

# Essential PR info
gh pr view $PR_NUMBER --json number,title,state,mergeable,statusCheckRollup

# Full context
gh pr view $PR_NUMBER --json number,title,body,state,author,labels,assignees,reviewDecision,mergeable,statusCheckRollup

Key Fields:

Field	Description
`mergeable`	`MERGEABLE`, `CONFLICTING`, `UNKNOWN`
`reviewDecision`	`APPROVED`, `CHANGES_REQUESTED`, `REVIEW_REQUIRED`
`statusCheckRollup`	Array of check statuses

List PRs

# Open PRs
gh pr list --json number,title,author,labels

# PRs by author
gh pr list --author @me --json number,title,state

# PRs needing review
gh pr list --search "review-requested:@me" --json number,title

Workflow Run Operations

Run Details

# Get run status with jobs
gh run view $RUN_ID --json conclusion,status,jobs,createdAt,updatedAt

# List recent runs
gh run list --json databaseId,status,conclusion,name,createdAt -L 10

Status Values: queued, in_progress, completed Conclusion Values: success, failure, cancelled, skipped, neutral

Watch Run Until Completion

# Watch and wait for run to complete (blocking, no timeout needed)
gh run watch $RUN_ID --compact --exit-status

# Find and watch latest run
RUN_ID=$(gh run list -L 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId')
gh run watch $RUN_ID --compact --exit-status

See gh-workflow-monitoring skill for comprehensive workflow watching patterns.

Failed Logs

# Get only failed step logs (most useful for debugging)
gh run view $RUN_ID --log-failed

# Full logs (verbose)
gh run view $RUN_ID --log

Workflow Triggers

# Trigger workflow manually
gh workflow run $WORKFLOW_NAME

# Trigger with inputs
gh workflow run $WORKFLOW_NAME -f param1=value1 -f param2=value2

# List workflows
gh workflow list --json name,state,path

Issue Operations

Issue Details

# Full issue context
gh issue view $ISSUE_NUMBER --json number,title,body,state,labels,assignees,comments

# Minimal
gh issue view $ISSUE_NUMBER --json number,title,state,labels

# With sub-issue progress
gh issue view $ISSUE_NUMBER --json number,title,state,subIssuesSummary

List Issues

# Open issues
gh issue list --json number,title,labels,assignees

# By label
gh issue list --label "bug" --json number,title

# Assigned to me
gh issue list --assignee @me --json number,title,state

Issue Types

# Create issue with type (requires repo/org with issue types configured)
gh issue create --title "..." --body "..." --type "Bug"
gh issue create --title "..." --body "..." --type "Feature"
gh issue create --title "..." --body "..." --type "Task"

Sub-Issues

# List sub-issues of a parent
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{parent}/sub_issues --jq '.[].number'

# Add existing issue as sub-issue
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{parent}/sub_issues -f sub_issue_id={child_id}

# Remove sub-issue
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{parent}/sub_issues/{sub_issue_id} -X DELETE

# Reprioritize sub-issue (move after another sub-issue)
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{parent}/sub_issues -X PATCH \
  -f sub_issue_id={id} -f after_id={after_id}

# Get sub-issue summary via issue view
gh issue view {N} --json title,subIssuesSummary
# Returns: {"total": 5, "completed": 3, "percentCompleted": 60}

Custom Issue Fields

# List available fields for an org
gh api orgs/{org}/issue-fields --jq '.[].name'

# Get field values for an issue
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{N}/issue-field-values

# Set field value
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{N}/issue-field-values \
  -X POST -f field_id={id} -f value='{value}'

Issue Management

# Transfer issue to another repo
gh issue transfer {N} {target-repo}

# Pin/unpin issue
gh issue pin {N}
gh issue unpin {N}

# Lock/unlock issue thread
gh issue lock {N} --reason resolved
gh issue unlock {N}

# Create development branch from issue
gh issue develop {N} --checkout
gh issue develop {N} --name {branch-name}

Repository Operations

# Get repo info
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner,defaultBranchRef,description

# Just owner/name
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq '.nameWithOwner'

API Direct Access

For operations not covered by subcommands:

# Get specific data
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs --jq '.workflow_runs[:5]'

# With pagination
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues --paginate --jq '.[].number'

GitHub URL Resolution

Translate GitHub URLs into gh API commands for programmatic access.

URL → Command Mapping

URL Pattern	Command
`github.com/{owner}/{repo}/pull/{n}`	`gh pr view {n} --repo {owner}/{repo} --json number,title,body,state`
`github.com/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{n}`	`gh issue view {n} --repo {owner}/{repo} --json number,title,body,state`
`github.com/{owner}/{repo}/commit/{sha}`	`gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/commits/{sha}`
`github.com/{owner}/{repo}/blob/{ref}/{path}`	`gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}?ref={ref}`

File Contents by Ref

# Get decoded file content at a specific ref (branch, tag, or SHA)
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}?ref={ref} --jq '.content' | base64 -d

# Get raw file content directly (no JSON wrapper)
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}?ref={ref} -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.raw+json"

Diff and Patch via API

Use Accept headers to get raw diff or patch output from PRs and commits:

# PR diff
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{n} -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.diff"

# PR patch
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{n} -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.patch"

# Commit diff
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/commits/{sha} -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.diff"

# Commit patch
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/commits/{sha} -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.patch"

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
CI diagnosis	`gh pr checks $N --json name,state,conclusion,detailsUrl`
Get failure logs	`gh run view $ID --log-failed`
PR merge status	`gh pr view $N --json mergeable,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup`
Quick issue list	`gh issue list --json number,title,labels -L 10`
Sub-issue progress	`gh issue view $N --json title,subIssuesSummary`
List sub-issues	`gh api repos/{o}/{r}/issues/{N}/sub_issues --jq '.[].number'`
Add sub-issue	`gh api repos/{o}/{r}/issues/{N}/sub_issues -f sub_issue_id=M`
Transfer issue	`gh issue transfer N target-repo`
Create dev branch	`gh issue develop N --checkout`
Workflow trigger	`gh workflow run $NAME`

Error Handling in Context

Use 2>/dev/null to suppress errors in context expressions (do NOT use || fallbacks - blocked by Claude Code 2.1.7+):

- PR checks: !`gh pr checks $PR --json name,state,conclusion`
- Run status: !`gh run view $ID --json status,conclusion`

Field Reference

PR Fields

number, title, body, state, author, labels, assignees, reviewDecision, mergeable, statusCheckRollup, headRefName, baseRefName, isDraft, url, createdAt, updatedAt

Issue Fields

number, title, body, state, author, labels, assignees, comments, milestone, url, createdAt, updatedAt, closedAt, subIssuesSummary, type

Run Fields

databaseId, name, status, conclusion, jobs, createdAt, updatedAt, url, headBranch, headSha, event

Job Fields (within runs)

name, status, conclusion, startedAt, completedAt, steps

Gh CLI Agentic

File contents

GitHub CLI Agentic Patterns

When to Use This Skill

Core Principle

Pull Request Operations

Check Status

PR Details

List PRs

Workflow Run Operations

Run Details

Watch Run Until Completion

Failed Logs

Workflow Triggers

Issue Operations

Issue Details

List Issues

Issue Types

Sub-Issues

Custom Issue Fields

Issue Management

Repository Operations

API Direct Access

GitHub URL Resolution

URL → Command Mapping

File Contents by Ref

Diff and Patch via API

Agentic Optimizations

Error Handling in Context

Field Reference

PR Fields

Issue Fields

Run Fields

Job Fields (within runs)

Frequently asked questions

Gh CLI Agentic

File contents

GitHub CLI Agentic Patterns

When to Use This Skill

Core Principle

Pull Request Operations

Check Status

PR Details

List PRs

Workflow Run Operations

Run Details

Watch Run Until Completion

Failed Logs

Workflow Triggers

Issue Operations

Issue Details

List Issues

Issue Types

Sub-Issues

Custom Issue Fields

Issue Management

Repository Operations

API Direct Access

GitHub URL Resolution

URL → Command Mapping

File Contents by Ref

Diff and Patch via API

Agentic Optimizations

Error Handling in Context

Field Reference

PR Fields

Issue Fields

Run Fields

Job Fields (within runs)

Related skills

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Gh CLI Agentic skill?

What does the Gh CLI Agentic skill do?

Is Gh CLI Agentic safe to use?

Which AI agents work with Gh CLI Agentic?

Is Gh CLI Agentic free to use?

Who published Gh CLI Agentic?